The Flourishing Student

Every tutor’s guide to promoting mental health, well-being and resilience in Higher Education

Fabienne Vailes

Are you an academic or professional member of staff in a Higher Education institution?

Have you been wondering what is going on with young people, their mental health and well-being, and why they are reporting increasing levels of stress and anxiety?

Do you want to support your students to thrive both academically and personally, but feel you don’t have the right skills and you’re terrified of saying the wrong thing?

This book is for you.

As a tutor you can help students to flourish not only academically but in all aspects of their university lives: mentally, emotionally, physically, socially and spiritually. Fabienne Vailes reveals how to meet this challenge by understanding mental health and mental disorders and learning from students who have overcome challenges to thrive at university, so that you can help your students develop a ‘tool box’ of techniques to support good mental health that will support them through university and beyond.

Paperback

A set of simple strategies to raise mental health awareness, improve knowledge around mental health issues and stress in academia and develop emotional resilience and mental well-being among students.

Fabienne Vailes is Language Director at the University of Bristol, specialising in teaching French Language and Intercultural Competence and Communication. A key part of her role is helping students overcome the daily challenges they are faced with and develop the resilience they need to complete their studies and succeed both academically and in the workplace.
With almost 20 years’ experience in the educational sector, Fabienne has taught all age groups from nursery to primary, secondary, FE and HE as well as adult learners.
A trained NLP Practitioner and Master Practitioner and Coach, Mindfulness teacher and qualified clinical hypnotherapist with specialism in stress and anxiety, Fabienne is also a professional member of the ANLP and Mindfulness Association.
Through her company Flourishing Education she regularly runs workshops for both corporate and academic clients.

INTRODUCTION

PART I – GAINING UNDERSTANDING AND CLARITY

Chapter I - Setting the scene - ‘Mental health’

Chapter 2 – Time for clarity and understanding – a need for mental health literacy

PART II – THE IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATION

Chapter 3 –Time for a new model?

Chapter 4 –A new model based on students’ stories

PART III – THE TUTOR’S OWN TOOL BOX

Chapter 5 –It all starts with you – the flourishing tutor

Chapter 6 –Your skills

Chapter 7 –How to bridge the student’s skill gaps?

WHAT NEXT

Amazon reviews:

'This is a very thoughtful and useful book for those working with third-level students. At a time of student mental health crisis the book gives helpful context to demystify the issues facing students and tutors today, as well as exercises and tips. It also is very significant in not just helping to deal with mental health challenges, but in modelling models of 'flourishing', both for students and tutors.' Catherine O

'Excellent thoughts on supporting undergraduates. Clearly laid out and well referenced. Really enjoyed thinking about how to enable students to flourish rather than languish. Essential reading for those interested in Wellbeing of students and applicable to school leavers in general. Fabienne combines her knowledge across many fields including NLP, mindfulness with her day to day experience including student interviews.' Anna B

'This thoughtful and well-written book will not only be invaluable to university personal tutors, but also to others who support young people in education, such as school counsellors. It gives context to the emotional wellbeing issues currently being managed in various educational institutes internationally, and explores theories in an accessible way, allowing the reader to feel better informed and better able to support their students. It drafts out practical exercises, which many tutors will wish to incorporate into their meetings with tutees. As a mental health and wellbeing professional in the Higher Education sector for 17 years, I would strongly recommend this book to colleagues, as part of their toolbox of supportive techniques, and for their own updating purposes and professional education.'

'This is a much needed book for tutors working in higher education, though secondary school teachers will also find it useful. Part I gives a good background of the state of mental health among students in the UK and makes a case for improving 'mental health literacy' both among students and university staff. Part II introduces readers to the concept of the 'flourishing student', exploring the many different factors that play a role for student health, wellbeing and development - using the needs of a flower as an analogy (see photo). Part III provides a useful toolbox with strategies, tips and tricks for supporting students in the higher education environment. The book is well-referenced, well-argued and clear - and oozes with human warmth and understanding. It's easy to read and contains some useful illustrations. I've learned a lot from reading this book - highly recommended!'

'The Flourishing Student is a very well designed book presenting everything you need to know to understand how to guide your students from languishing to flourishing. The author presents numerous theories and shows how each one is relevant to understanding and guiding students in their journey and then offer a number of exercises that will be relevant to you as well as to yourstudents. She draws from her research as well as mastery of NLP and mindfulness to guide the reader. A must for HE practitioners!'

'Fabulous book and a must read not only for HE tutors but also any parent who is concerned about the issue of mental health. It explores the current state of confusion re many mental health terms and the increase in self reporting and the opening chapter stating that the reality is that over the past 50 years the epidemiological data states that the incidence of mental health problems has remained steady, had me hooked. It explores the impact of over parenting on students and the importance of resilience so the key message is we all play a part in using the power of our words to ensure our children reach adult hood feeling competent and confidentThe book is superbly written and researched and packed with pragmatic tips for HE tutors that I know many parents will also find helpful. And just over 200 pages, it's a joy to read.'

'I found The Flourishing Student to be detailed, well-researched and - most importantly - thought-provoking.The (well-informed) insights and refreshing and challenging perspectives to prevailing attitudes towards mental health set the scene. It tackles some really important contemporary issues in the context of education and the student experience. Having said that, I would recommend for any general reader as it provides truly helpful and practical models and approaches to aid understanding and analysis. It's accessible without at all being 'dumbed-down' and sensitively and intelligently synthesises insights and practical approaches from a spectrum of disciplines which Fabienne is evidently highly skilled in. Highly recommended!'

'A thoroughly researched and well written work, incorporating really useful insights about what makes people tick (or not!), including well woven material from the world of NLP, mindfulness and resilience management. It's sometimes said that life "does not come with a User Guide" about how live a happy and useful life, but this book comes pretty close. Highly recommended reading.'

'I have worked in the field of Health and Wellbeing for 15 years, latterly teaching in a complex adult education setting, so I was curious to see how this book would add to the field. Fabienne's academic rigour gives it credence and her writing style makes it easy to understand and will be really helpful for everyone to apply within their teaching role. This should be on every teacher training course!'